Doo you have a Little animal fan at home? Park them at Parkers Farm Cottages and Caravans, where they can gabble to the animals to their hearts’ content… There are daily farm walks to help feed and pet the pigs, cows, ponies, guinea pigs and other inhabitants of this friendly Devon farm, and easy access from here to Devon’s top animal attractions like Paignton Zoo and Pennywell Farm, not to mention the ponies roaming wild on Dartmoor…

Parkers Farm Cottages and Caravans is in the heart of the Devonshire countryside between Dartmoor and the coast, and is just outside the old stannary town of Ashburton, the biggest town in Dartmoor National Park. Its luxury self-contained holiday homes come fully equipped with Freeview TV, crockery and cooking utensils, a microwave and the beds fully made up. Pets are welcome and there’s a designated dog-walking field.

If the weather is beastly, settle down in Miss Piggy’s Bar & Restaurant just down the hill from Parkers Farm, with a children’s playroom, games room and entertainment in peak season. There’s also a TV room and the farm has free wifi.

Parkers Farm Cottages and Caravans is perfectly placed for both Dartmoor and the south Devon coast, so we think a few days at each should be in order. Animal fans can find out all about Dartmoor’s wildlife at the High Moorland Visitor Centre at Princetown in the heart of the park, with free admission, regularly changing exhibitions and knowledgeable staff who can point enthusiasts in the right direction. Kids will probably also want to ebb towards the award-winning River Dart Country Park for adrenaline activities, zipwires and nature trails, and to Becky Falls, picked by the World Wildlife Fund as an Incredible Family Day Out.

If you have to firmly tell your disappointed offspring that no, wild Dartmoor ponies are not there for riding, take them instead to one of the several stables around on the moor for horse rides and pony treks. There are stables for all abilities from beginner to expert, including enclosed schools for beginners, and different parts of park recommended according to experience: the south-east quarter is best for beginners, with accessible moorland and gentle slopes. Many Dartmoor pubs have tie rails or paddocks for horses if you’re making a pit stop.

Also in the national park, spend a day or three at Pennywell Farm and the Buckfast Butterfly Farm and Dartmoor Otter Sanctuary, both in Buckfastleigh. Farm rides, a falconry centre and regular shows are on the agenda at Pennywell Farm; listen for the bell every half an hour which rings in the start of a new activity.

Now knackered? Also at Buckfastleigh, browse peacefully around Buckfast Abbey to browse around, or have some sedate steam-based sightseeing on the South Devon Railway to Totnes (once there, the kids will probably find more energetic things to do at the Woodlands Adventure Park, which has a zoo farm including Meerkat Hotel, a dinosaur ride and several hair-raising play and adventure zones).

Towards the coast, let little folk make a splash at Paignton’s Quay West, the biggest outdoor water park in the UK, or get busy on the beaches of the English Riviera at Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. On the way, stop off at Newton Abbot for the brilliantly bonkers House of Marbles for its games and marbles museums, games and glass for sale, and the games garden with giant floating marble.

Liked: The friendly people .Mick as always was very helpful. Very child friendly loved the tractor ride and feeding the animals. The views from the caravan was breathtaking. The club house at the bottom was reasonably priced.

Disliked: Having to walk up and down a dark and very busy road to get to club. Makes it dangerous even with light coloured clothing on or torch for the children shame there wasn't an access point as you came out for walkers

Location

Value for money

Accommodation

Facilities/activities

Customer service

Child friendliness

Cleanliness

Wifi

Overall

10

Loved it so much have booked to go again31 Jul 2014

David W.
(Family with young children, 1 review)
Confirmed

Date stayed: Jul 2014

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked: Fabulous caravan park, the views are amazing. Ideally situated for Torbay, Plymouth and Dartmore so loads to do in the vicinity.

Caravan was new, clean and well looked after. The caravans overlook or surrounded the kiddies playground so kids played safely and could easily be observed and supervised from the carakvan.

Wonderful welcome by owner/manager Mick who explains everything you need to know. You have opportunity to feed animals on small farm and have tractor rides.

Liked: We went for the Easter break, it was fantastic especially given we got the weather.

Arrived to a warm welcome from Mick who then showed us our caravan and went through how everything worked. Explained that it was a new van so there could be some teething problems but everything worked fine.

Caravan was spacious and well equipped and just a short distance from the park so the children were happy and we could easily see them from the caravan.

Nice and reasonably priced drinks and food at the bar on Parkers farm campsite which you have access to the facilities. Also a little shop for any bits you may have forgot.

Everyone on the sites were friendly and curtious to one another and the farm walks and tractor rides with Gary are a must for children and parents.

We will definetely be re-visiting Parkers Farm & Cottages and have recommended it to friends and family :-)

Disliked: Lack of outside seating area but this is to be corrected and was due to the bad weather over the winter months.

Location

Value for money

Accommodation

Facilities/activities

Customer service

Child friendliness

Cleanliness

Wifi

(No rating)

Overall

10

Peaceful and relaxing. The caravan was immaculate.1 Jul 2013

Anthony J.
(Solo traveller-male, 1 review)
Confirmed

Date stayed: Jun 2013

Recommend to friends Visit again

Liked: When I arrived I received a warm welcome from the warden who then took the time to show me to the caravan and went inside to provide a guided tour of caravan and explain how everything worked and where all the switches were. It was a very nice and stress free start to my holiday.I was near the top level and the views were brilliant. The caravan was clean and tidy and everything worked perfectly. The shower had a lot of room to move around in, was very warm, and easy to operate.There was a contact number on the wall of the caravan for the on site warden who would provide any assistance required, or help with any problems.

Disliked: I stuggled with the wi-fi connection but the day before I was leaving there was a broadband engineer on site looking at where to position extra aerials so this does seem like it will be fixed.

Liked: the standards were so high all the toilet/ shower facilities were immaculate.On the Saturday afternoon they did a farm walk for the children, introducing them to the animals, allowing them to feed and stroke the animals on the farm.there are plenty of play areas around the park for children of all ages and also a games room.The shop, bar and restaurant are reasonably priced and though we didn't eat there i hear they are amazing quality also.

Disliked: the only thing we disliked is that the site isn't very well sign posted from the Ashburton side, there are plenty of signs from the main road and also from Newton abbot but my husband got lost walking back from Ashburton which is about a mile and a half away.

Location

Value for money

(No rating)

Accommodation

Facilities/activities

Customer service

Child friendliness

Cleanliness

Wifi

(No rating)

Overall

10

Alas, no reviews for your selected filters.
But reviews are brilliant - they help thousands of other people to find the right holiday. Be bold, be the first to review this site. It only takes a minute.

Report a problem

Contact Parkers Farm Cottages and Caravans

Terms and conditions

Should this caravan become unavailable for any reason, you will be offered a suitable alternative. There may be small differences between the actual accommodation and the facilities and its description as we are constantly upgrading our park.

Your details on the booking must be correct. We regret that we cannot accept changes within 14 days of arrival.